After President Donald Trump posted an AI image of himself dressed as Jesus Christ (which he later deleted), Fox News host Sean Hannity positioned himself as an authority on Christianity, lecturing Pope Leo on the faith’s teachings.
According to Huffpost, Hannity wanted to criticize the pope and his anti-war stance, and said: “Pope Leo is seemingly more interested in spreading left-wing politics than the actual teachings of Jesus Christ.”
He continued, “Why is the pope twisting religion to only attack Trump? Why did he recently meet with top Obama adviser David Axelrod and J.B. Pritzker? Is it because he is a Trump-hating Democrat that lacks moral clarity?”
Hannity also referenced Pope Leo’s statement, “God does not bless any conflict and certainly doesn’t side with those who drop bombs,” claiming, “Well, first, that is simply not biblically accurate. The Bible contains more than 400 references to war, frequently depicting God as authorizing, commanding or intervening in battles, like the one we know, between David and Goliath.”
Hannity’s comments come as the pope continues preaching peace. Though he has not named Trump directly, his remarks were sharp enough for many to understand the target. Since Leo’s comments focused mainly on the U.S. and Israel — the two countries that struck Iran, igniting the war — Hannity asked: “Where are the pointed words for Iran, this evil regime?”
Netizens quickly criticized the TV host for presuming to school a pope on Christianity. One user commented on the X post of Hannity’s video: “Being a Catholic, I might tend to believe the Pope rather than Hannity, Trump, Fox News or JD Vance. Good luck with the millions of Catholics in the USA in November. I hope the Pope takes his ballot in person to make a point.”
Another wrote: “It’s incredible that those die-hard supporters of Donald Trump would go so low as to attack the Pope in defense of Donald.” A third added: “Right? How dare the Pope ask for an end to wars and killing? (…) Wake up!”
Pope Leo appears unaffected by criticism from some Republicans. On Thursday, during a visit to Cameroon, he reinforced his peace stance, saying, “Peace is not something we must invent: It is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as a brother and as our sister.”
Trump and Pope Leo are locked in a public feud. Following the pope’s Thursday comments, Trump said the pontiff needs to understand that Iran was “a threat to the world,” adding: “The Pope can say what he wants — and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree.”
Trump previously called the pope “weak,” and his AI-generated image portraying himself as Jesus drew backlash, even from some MAGA supporters. As the tussle escalates, it remains to be seen whether it will affect Trump’s Christian voter base amid his declining approval ratings.